This is indeed an interesting time to chair the BAMSL Minorities in the Legal Profession (MILP) Committee. Nationally, many are asking questions about the role of lawyers and courts to end discrimination in its varied forms. Across the state, bar associations are developing committees and surveys to quantify and increase diversity within the legal profession, while lawyers legislate and litigate racially charged topics like wrongful conviction and Critical Race Theory in our schools.

A special thanks to all the BAMSL members and law firms who donated more than $58,000 to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis' MLK Day of Service drive-through event on Jan. 17.

If you are like me, you might have assumed that one reason the Dred and Harriett Scott case is so well known is that it was unique in American jurisprudence. Surely, it must have been rare for an enslaved couple living in a slave state in the 1840s to have the courage to sue their master in a court of law for their freedom? Think again.

If I have learned anything about wellness and the six principles of well-being (emotional, physical, spiritual, social, intellectual and occupational), it is that they do not exist on their own. Each of them weave into the others and support each other. Each principle is important, but emotional well-being seems to be the one that creates the bedrock for the others.

Law firms make rich targets for ransomware attacks because they are entrusted with so much sensitive information. That can prove irresistible to hackers, who are increasingly organized and sophisticated in their approach. Thankfully, there are ways lawyers and law firms can protect themselves to both prevent a ransomware attack and even stop one that is in progress before a situation becomes dire.

As we all know, COVID and the pandemic have had a huge effect on how the world operates and how we do things from day to day. Adjusting to the new normal has allowed The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) and the BAMSL Young Lawyers Division (YLD), to continue in their mission to reach and engage young lawyers while also helping the community at large.

I have been blessed with several invaluable mentors in my legal career. Hopefully you have, too. Mentoring lawyers is critical to the future of our profession, and a topic worth revisiting.

Humility and service — with a dose of self-deprecation thrown in — is a way of life for Jeffery McPherson, a partner at Armstrong Teasdale LLP.

A colleague once described a vacation he took. He detailed with great enthusiasm how he really enjoyed the Airbnb he and his wife rented for a week because it had an extra bedroom that allowed him to set up an entirely separate office. That way, his work did not interfere with their "vacation time."

The year 2021 began exactly the same way 2020 ended: Virtually.